Morgan State HESA Faculty Featured in Things We Imagined Documentary on Black Faculty in Higher Education

Two faculty members in Morgan State University’s Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) program, Dr. Steve D. Mobley Jr. and Dr. Jordan Harper, are featured in Things We Imagined, a new feature-length documentary examining the experiences and imagined futures of Black college and university professors.

Created by higher education scholars and filmmakers Dr. Candace Hall and Dr. Charles H.F. Davis III, Things We Imagined draws primarily from in-depth interviews with more than 30 Black faculty members from colleges and universities across the United States. The film also includes moments from academic conferences, campus visits, and interactions among colleagues and friends, using a narrative approach to explore both the challenges and possibilities of Black faculty life in higher education.

Drs. Mobley and Harper are faculty members in the Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy (DASLP), where their scholarship and teaching contribute to the department’s commitment to centering Black education, Black students, and Black communities. Their participation in the documentary extends that work into a national conversation about the experiences, relationships, aspirations, and professional lives of Black scholars.

The documentary premiered at the 2025 Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference and is now being screened on college campuses during the 2026–2027 academic year. Previous campus screenings have paired the film with conversations about the complexity of Black faculty experiences,the importance of allowing scholars to tell those stories in their own voices, and what institutions ought to do to better support their Black faculty.

This fall, DASLP is pleased to bring Things We Imagined to Morgan State University for a special screening during the HESA Fall Residency Weekend (contact shannon.williams@morgan.edu for screening details). Graduate students and faculty will have an opportunity to view the documentary together and participate in an intimate discussion and Q&A between Dr. Harper and Dr. Davis. Campus screenings of the documentary are designed to include both the film and conversation with its creators about the project, its research, and the filmmaking process.

For HESA students, the screening offers an opportunity to engage directly with scholarship about Black faculty experiences while considering how research can be communicated beyond traditional academic publications. For DASLP, hosting the film at Morgan is also an opportunity to celebrate Drs. Mobley and Harper and their contributions to a project that centers Black scholars and their stories.

Their participation in Things We Imagined reflects DASLP’s broader mission to cultivate equity-oriented transformative leaders and scholars and to create space for research, dialogue, and community around Black experiences in education.